The Lake Travis Fire and Rescue fuels reduction crew feeds brush into its new chipper, which keep areas safer from wildfire risks. It’s the only remote-controlled, self-propelled chipper in Texas.

By KIM ESTES
Four Points News

A state-of-art remote-controlled chipper cuts down on both brush and time for crews working to minimize natural wildfire fuel in local woodlands, said William Boettner, Lake Travis Fire and Rescue wildfire mitigation specialist.

The heavy equipment, which LTFR has had for nearly six months, is the only one of its kind in Texas.

“There’s one in Oklahoma and one here. It cost about $100,000,” Boettner said.

The expenditure may be balanced by at least a 50 percent increase in the fuels reduction crew productivity.

“A job that used to take us five days now takes two or three. We can finish much more rapidly, which means we can do more work and create more safe zones,” said Boettner.

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* Projected growth based on 2016 demographic report. Source: Leander ISD

Getting ready for enrollment,
Keeping academic scores high

By KIM ESTES
Four Points News

Superintendent Dan Troxell said Leander ISD needs 10 schools in 10 years to accommodate projected growth, which demographers say will include 12,000 more students by 2026.

Troxell was speaking to a crowd of 220 gathered on Friday at Hill Country Bible Church, Lakeline, for the annual LISD “State of the District” meeting sponsored by Leander ISD Educational Excellence Foundation.

In addition to discussing growth, Troxell gave a synopsis of the most recently available facts and figures on the district, including a breakdown of student population data, academic performance rates and the budget.
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By CAITLIN MCKEAND, HADLEY HUDSON
Vandegrift Voice

Flurries of writing, a sea of pink and red, and a picture of two smiling children on the overhead projector at the front of the classroom show the spirit of Valentine’s Day.

During PIT earlier this month, Nation Honor Society members wrote letters to two children who have rare conditions/diseases. The goal was 1,000 letters for each child with the help of the Cheyanna’s Champions for Children, a national organization that supports the community of families and children with rare or undiagnosed conditions. CC4C matches each sponsored child with a “Champion Teammate” and a high school team.

“I think that just showing that you’ve got older children here thinking about these two young kids who are in a really tough situation in life just brings a lot of thoughtfulness to the community about recognizing that there are other things going on outside of the world outside of their small spheres of their communities and their own lives,” NHS advisor Rebecca Bumpas said. “It’s good to be thinking about people beyond their own regular life.”

Quinn Apel, senior NHS historian, coordinated the project benefitting the two kids, Maddie (7) and Tristan (11) who had their picture projected on the overhead while members created cards.

“It makes it really special for the kids, especially since it’s close to Valentine’s,” Apel said. “We had a great time making the cards and I’m really excited to see how the kids react.”

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Milestone Community Builders is requesting a zoning change for this section of River Place to build a new residential housing development. River Place residents want the zoning to reflect safety and traffic issues, and neighborhood design.

Hearing set for Feb . 21 after 9 postponements

By CASSIE MCKEE
Four Points News

A hearing by the Austin Zoning and Platting Commission to consider a rezoning request for two parcels of land at the end of Milky Way Drive in River Place has been rescheduled to Feb. 21.

It is the ninth postponement for the zoning request, which was originally filed more than a year and a half ago by Milestone Community Builders, the applicant that wants to build a new residential housing development on one plat of land, and The Autism Trust, which is occupying the other plat.

Milestone is requesting an SF2 zoning to build more houses on the 42-acre site than the current SF1 zoning allows. Milky Way is currently SF1 with a conditional overlay that essentially makes the average lot size well over 1 acre per home. Milestone is requesting to build up to 82 homes.

River Place residents do not want the zoning to change to something other than what has been established adjacent to the property because of safety and traffic issues, and they want to keep the neighborhood design. But residents are willing to support recommendations made by ZAP staff to limit the development to 2/3-acre lots which would equal 40-50 homes.

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